


Chances Are

by leobrat



Category: General Hospital
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-04
Updated: 2011-03-04
Packaged: 2017-10-16 02:33:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/167492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leobrat/pseuds/leobrat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Only what we make them, and all I need...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chances Are

**Author's Note:**

> for duchessofavalon

he’s just eighteen when she tells him that she’s going to marry him some day. They’re dancing at her father’s wedding and she has flowers in her hair.

He says nothing at the time, just laughs softly and pulls her closer into him. Kristina lays her head against his chest, and she just fits so neatly under his chin.

When the dance is over, Ethan doesn’t think about it.

Or at least, he tries.

* * *

Early summer brings a heat wave to Port Charles. His father’s waterfront casino sees relatively little business – even degenerate gamblers want to take a break to vegetate. It’s nights like this that he’s glad he gave up smoking. Ethan allows himself a two-hour break, just sitting out on the pier, watching the water and the stars. Late at night, the heat has let up, just slightly.

In the still silence, he can hear her footsteps before he can see her coming down the pier. He knows it’s her. He always knows. She’s wearing a pretty white dress with a pink ribbon tied around her waist and another in her hair. She’s beautiful.

She’s supposed to be at her senior prom. She told him about it last week when he saw her at Kelley’s. She didn’t seem completely enthusiastic, but it was nice to think of her doing something normal for a change. Having fun, the way a girl her age should be.

“What are you doing here?” He asks, but he can’t help smiling. She always makes him smile. “Why aren’t you at the dance?”

She shrugs and steps closer to him. “It was nice to go, but I guess I’m just not really into it anymore.” She gestures to the bench. “Can I sit with you for a little while?” He nods and she nestles under his arm with her head on his shoulder.

And it’s enough for now.

* * *

A year later and they’re at another wedding. Her brother and his sister. She’s been home from college for a couple of weeks but he hasn’t gotten a chance to see her, and when she hurries into the rehearsal dinner late, he feels the wind knocked out of him. He missed her, and he didn’t realize how much until it hits him all at once, with a solid ache.

But they’re in the middle of speeches and then gifts and even later, when he hugs her, her sister is hanging around and she’s being called away to take pictures. He watches her walk away from him, and she throws him a smile over her shoulder. Being away from this town agreed with her. She still reminds him of a delicate china doll, but she no longer seems so fragile, breakable. She’s just left with the loveliness.

The next evening when they’re paired up to walk down the aisle together, she rests her hand in the crook of his elbow and smiles up at him, and he remembers her telling him that she would marry him some day.

He covers her little hand with his own large one and smiles back.

* * *

It seems that not a year can go by in Port Charles without a building burning down, a bomb going off, a maniac killer on the loose or an airborn plague inflicting the city. The Metro Court had been bad luck from the beginning, and it was a gaudy monstrosity that never fit in Port Charles, but Ethan’s heart nearly stopped when he realized Kristina was still inside.

Later, Lucky told him that he’d punched out a search-and-rescue worker and shoved aside two firefighters to get back into the building. But none of that mattered when she emerged from the ruins, supporting her big Uncle Jax. No damsel in distress, no princess needing to be saved.

He couldn’t remember any of that after the fact, nothing until he had her scooped up in his arms, crying like a baby, crushing her against him and petrified to ever let her go again.

* * *

The next summer is just as sticky hot as ever. Some things just don’t change in the sleepy little town that has come to be his home.

And then again, some things do.

It’s another charity event for the hospital, another excuse for him to be stuck in a tux he will never feel comfortable in, but it’s another slow dance, too. Things have changed; they’re together, and she’s been his for a while now. He’s always belonged to her. He’s free to pull her closer, to kiss her sweet face if he wants to, can rest assured knowing that he’ll take her home and she’ll sleep safe in his arms.

He laughs softly over the top of her head and she looks up at him, eyes shining. “What?” She whispers, the beginning of a smile on her lips. Oh, he loves her.

He kisses the tip of her nose and cradles her head against his chest again. “I’m going to marry you some day.”


End file.
